FAQs

Q: How will local residents benefit from the changes to Markhouse Road?

A: We’re upgrading junctions, crossings, bus stops and creating a space for cycles along Markhouse Road for local people and all road users to benefit from. We are also working with the local community to create an attractive public space with more trees, making the area a more enjoyable place that people will want to use.

Q: How will parking and loading provision be affected?

A: We know how important it is that parking and loading improvements meet the needs of local businesses who are vital to the community and local economy. The proposals for parking and loading have been developed based on surveys and consultation with businesses, visitors and residents, and we will continue to work with local businesses to ensure that we meet their loading requirements.

Our plan is to introduce short stay parking bays along the road, limited to one hour maximum stay, Monday to Saturday between the hours of 8.30am and 6.30pm. Outside of these hours the bays will be available for anyone to use on an unrestricted basis. In addition, where possible, people will be able to park in bus lanes out of the hours of operation. Some sections of existing yellow lines are proposed to become double yellow lines which operate at any time, ensuring parked vehicles do not impact traffic flow (particularly buses).

Q: Will the changes cause congestion?

A: Our current road network needs to be updated to cope with the flow of traffic through the borough. As London, and the local population increases, we anticipate that traffic congestion will increase. We, therefore, need to modernise the borough’s infrastructure, and offer improved options for those who wish to use alternative modes of transport such as walking and cycling. We hope that the changes we are making will improve the flow of traffic along the road to ease congestion.

Q: Will the proposals affect buses?

A: We want to help improve the reliability of bus services and meet TfL’s accessibility standards better to support elderly and disabled passengers, as well as people with push chairs. To do this, we’re planning to improve bus stops which will be designed together with the new cycle tracks.

Q: During the road works how will you manage the levels of traffic build up?

A: While these works will help improve Markhouse Road in the long run, we acknowledge that they will mean some disruption in the short term. There are likely to be delays to journeys so we want to give you advance warning so you can prepare.

To enable all of these improvements to safely take place, traffic management (traffic cones, traffic signals etc) will be put in place and some of the lanes of the road will also have to be closed at times. Signs will be placed along the road to warn drivers of the disruption and pedestrian and cycle diversions will also be in place when these are needed.

We want to reassure everyone that we, and our contractors, will be doing everything we can to keep any disruption to a minimum.

What can you do?

Look out for updates in Waltham Forest News, on this page and Twitter feed @wfcouncil

Allow extra time for your journey

Walk or cycle instead of driving if you are able to do so

Allow extra time if you are travelling by bus as we expect there to be an impact on bus times during the works.

Q: Why are you removing trees

A: As part of transport improvements being made to Markhouse Road, 10 trees which are located on the public footway have been removed. Before starting any work we commissioned an independent condition survey on the trees, which found two of the trees to be dangerous and encroaching on the public highway. In addition, another four of the trees were found to be an inappropriate species for the highway, and will eventually pose a danger to road users as they don’t have sufficient space to grow properly. The other four trees have been removed to make way for new cycle tracks and new wider public footways.

We will be replacing all of the trees on Markhouse Road and planting an additional 10 trees in neighbouring side roads. We will be working with an independent green space expert to determine the exact locations and species for the trees, which will be selected to complement the local area.